Drama as democratic and inclusive practice

This article examines how two devising theater projects with 43 seventh grade pupils respond to values in adaptive education: inclusion, appreciation, variation, experience, relevance, context, and participation. We focus on statue work and the formation of ideas through negotiation processes. The project responds to and concretizes democratic working methods and a pupil perspective in adaptive education. The article suggests that exploratory ensemble-based forms of learning offer the pupils an opportunity to discover their own and the other’s voice, which opens up inclusion into a community

Klasserommet som Agora – et reelt demokratisk rom?

I denne artikkelen undersøker vi hvorvidt en spesifikk dramapraksis kan bidra til å styrke klasserommets potensial som demokratisk arena. Det vil fremgå av analysen hva dette potensialet kan være og hva vi legger i «demokrati» i klasseromskonteksten. Den estetiske praksisen som analyseres i artikkelen,er gjennomført med to elevgrupper på henholdsvis 21 og 22 elever på 7.trinn(felt1 og felt 2). Den forgikk på to forskjellige norske skoler, hvermed varighet på en uke. Praksisen er en del av studien «Demokratiske og estetiske rom» (2015–2018), etph.d.-prosjekt som undersøker dramapedagogisk praksissett i lys av ulike demokratiske problemstillinger

Krill-Oil-Dependent Increases in HS-Omega-3 Index, Plasma Choline and Antioxidant Capacity in Well-Conditioned Power Training Athletes

There is evidence that both omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFAs) and choline can influence sports performance, but information establishing their combined effects when given in the form of krill oil during power training protocols is missing. The purpose of this study was therefore to characterize n-3 PUFA and choline profiles after a one-hour period of high-intensity physical workout after 12 weeks of supplementation. Thirty-five healthy power training athletes received either 2.5 g/day of Neptune krill oilTM (550 mg EPA/DHA and 150 mg choline) or olive oil (placebo) in a randomized double-blind design. After 12 weeks, only the krill oil group showed a significant HS-Omega-3 Index increase from 4.82 to 6.77% and a reduction in the ARA/EPA ratio (from 50.72 to 13.61%) (p < 0.001). The krill oil group showed significantly higher recovery of choline concentrations relative to the placebo group from the end of the first to the beginning of the second exercise test (p = 0.04) and an 8% decrease in total antioxidant capacity post-exercise versus 21% in the placebo group (p = 0.35). In conclusion, krill oil can be used as a nutritional strategy for increasing the HS-Omega-3 Index, recover choline concentrations and address oxidative stress after intense power trainings

The Disconnected Brain and Executive Function Decline in Aging

Abstract Higher order speeded cognitive abilities depend on efficient coordination of activity across the brain, rendering them vulnerable to age reductions in structural and functional brain connectivity. The concept of &quot;disconnected aging&quot; has been invoked, suggesting that degeneration of connections between distant brain regions cause cognitive reductions. However, it has not been shown that changes in cognitive functions over time can be explained by simultaneous changes in brain connectivity. We followed 119 young and middle-aged (23-52 years) and older (63-86 years) adults for 3.3 years with repeated assessments of structural and functional brain connectivity and executive functions. We found unique age-related longitudinal reductions in executive function over and above changes in more basic cognitive processes. Intriguingly, 82.5% of the age-related decline in executive function could be explained by changes in connectivity over time. While both structural and functional connectivity changes were related to longitudinal reductions in executive function, only structural connectivity change could explain the age-specific decline. This suggests that the major part of the age-related reductions in executive function can be attributed to micro-and macrostructural alterations in brain connectivity. Although correlational in nature, we believe the present results constitute evidence for a &quot;disconnected brain&quot; view on cognitive aging

PAX6, brain structure and function in human adults: advanced MRI in aniridia

OBJECTIVE: PAX6 is a pleiotropic transcription factor essential for the development of several tissues including the eyes, central nervous system, and some endocrine glands. Recently it has also been shown to be important for the maintenance and functioning of corneal and pancreatic tissues in adults. We hypothesized that PAX6 is important for the maintenance of brain integrity in humans, and that adult heterozygotes may have abnormalities of cortical patterning analogous to those found in mouse models. METHODS: We used advanced magnetic resonance imaging techniques, including surface-based morphometry and region-of-interest analysis in adult humans heterozygously mutated for PAX6 mutations (n = 19 subjects and n = 21 controls). Using immunohistochemistry, we also studied PAX6 expression in the adult brain tissue of healthy subjects (n = 4) and patients with epilepsy (n = 42), some of whom had focal injuries due to intracranial electrode track placement (n = 17). RESULTS: There were significant reductions in frontoparietal cortical area after correcting for age and intracranial volume. A greater decline in thickness of the frontoparietal cortex with age, in subjects with PAX6 mutations compared to controls, correlated with age-corrected, accelerated decline in working memory. These results also demonstrate genotypic effects: those subjects with the most severe genotypes have the most widespread differences compared with controls. We also demonstrated significant increases in PAX6-expressing cells in response to acute injury in the adult human brain. INTERPRETATION: These findings suggest a role for PAX6 in the maintenance and consequent functioning of the adult brain, homologous to that found in other tissues. This has significant implications for the understanding and treatment of neurodegenerative diseases

Corticosteroids and regional variations in thickness of the human cerebral cortex across the lifespan

International audienceExposures to life stressors accumulate across the lifespan, with possible impact on brain health. Little is known, however, about the mechanisms mediating age-related changes in brain structure. We use a lifespan sample of participants (n = 21 251; 4–97 years) to investigate the relationship between the thickness of cerebral cortex and the expression of the glucocorticoid- and the mineralocorticoid-receptor genes (NR3C1 and NR3C2, respectively), obtained from the Allen Human Brain Atlas. In all participants, cortical thickness correlated negatively with the expression of both NR3C1 and NR3C2 across 34 cortical regions. The magnitude of this correlation varied across the lifespan. From childhood through early adulthood, the profile similarity (between NR3C1/NR3C2 expression and thickness) increased with age. Conversely, both profile similarities decreased with age in late life. These variations do not reflect age-related changes in NR3C1 and NR3C2 expression, as observed in 5 databases of gene expression in the human cerebral cortex (502 donors). Based on the co-expression of NR3C1 (and NR3C2) with genes specific to neural cell types, we determine the potential involvement of microglia, astrocytes, and CA1 pyramidal cells in mediating the relationship between corticosteroid exposure and cortical thickness. Therefore, corticosteroids may influence brain structure to a variable degree throughout life

Brain structural differences between 73- and 92-year olds matched for childhood intelligence, social background, and intracranial volume

Fully characterizing age differences in the brain is a key task for combating aging-related cognitive decline. Using propensity score matching on 2 independent, narrow-age cohorts, we used data on childhood cognitive ability, socioeconomic background, and intracranial volume to match participants at mean age of 92 years (n = 42) to very similar participants at mean age of 73 years (n = 126). Examining a variety of global and regional structural neuroimaging variables, there were large differences in gray and white matter volumes, cortical surface area, cortical thickness, and white matter hyperintensity volume and spatial extent. In a mediation analysis, the total volume of white matter hyperintensities and total cortical surface area jointly mediated 24.9% of the relation between age and general cognitive ability (tissue volumes and cortical thickness were not significant mediators in this analysis). These findings provide an unusual and valuable perspective on neurostructural aging, in which brains from the 8th and 10th decades of life differ widely despite the same cognitive, socioeconomic, and brain-volumetric starting points

Brain cortical characteristics of lifetime cognitive ageing

Regional cortical brain volume is the product of surface area and thickness. These measures exhibit partially distinct trajectories of change across the brain’s cortex in older age, but it is unclear which cortical characteristics at which loci are sensitive to cognitive ageing differences. We examine associations between change in intelligence from age 11 to 73 years and regional cortical volume, surface area, and thickness measured at age 73 years in 568 community-dwelling older adults, all born in 1936. A relative positive change in intelligence from 11 to 73 was associated with larger volume and surface area in selective frontal, temporal, parietal, and occipital regions (r &lt; 0.180, FDR-corrected q &lt; 0.05). There were no significant associations between cognitive ageing and a thinner cortex for any region. Interestingly, thickness and surface area were phenotypically independent across bilateral lateral temporal loci, whose surface area was significantly related to change in intelligence. These findings suggest that associations between regional cortical volume and cognitive ageing differences are predominantly driven by surface area rather than thickness among healthy older adults. Regional brain surface area has been relatively underexplored, and is a potentially informative biomarker for identifying determinants of cognitive ageing differences

Harmonizing DTI measurements across scanners to examine the development of white matter microstructure in 803 adolescents of the NCANDA study

Neurodevelopment continues through adolescence, with notable maturation of white matter tracts comprising regional fiber systems progressing at different rates. To identify factors that could contribute to regional differences in white matter microstructure development, large samples of youth spanning adolescence to young adulthood are essential to parse these factors. Recruitment of adequate samples generally relies on multi-site consortia but comes with the challenge of merging data acquired on different platforms. In the current study, diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) data were acquired on GE and Siemens systems through the National Consortium on Alcohol and NeuroDevelopment in Adolescence (NCANDA), a multi-site study designed to track the trajectories of regional brain development during a time of high risk for initiating alcohol consumption. This cross-sectional analysis reports baseline Tract-Based Spatial Statistic (TBSS) of regional fractional anisotropy (FA), mean diffusivity (MD), axial diffusivity (L1), and radial diffusivity (LT) from the five consortium sites on 671 adolescents who met no/low alcohol or drug consumption criteria and 132 adolescents with a history of exceeding consumption criteria. Harmonization of DTI metrics across manufacturers entailed the use of human-phantom data, acquired multiple times on each of three non-NCANDA participants at each site’s MR system, to determine a manufacturer-specific correction factor. Application of the correction factor derived from human phantom data measured on MR systems from different manufacturers reduced the standard deviation of the DTI metrics for FA by almost a half, enabling harmonization of data that would have otherwise carried systematic error. Permutation testing supported the hypothesis of higher FA and lower diffusivity measures in older adolescents and indicated that, overall, the FA, MD, and L1 of the boys was higher than that of the girls, suggesting continued microstructural development notable in the boys. The contribution of demographic and clinical differences to DTI metrics was assessed with General Additive Models (GAM) testing for age, sex, and ethnicity differences in regional skeleton mean values. The results supported the primary study hypothesis that FA skeleton mean values in the no/low-drinking group were highest at different ages. When differences in intracranial volume were covaried, FA skeleton mean reached a maximum at younger ages in girls than boys and varied in magnitude with ethnicity. Our results, however, did not support the hypothesis that youth who exceeded exposure criteria would have lower FA or higher diffusivity measures than the no/low-drinking group; detecting the effects of excessive alcohol consumption during adolescence on DTI metrics may require longitudinal study